


Street Corner

by Miss_maria_reynolds (lesbiannancywheeler)



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: (They're both adults though don't worry), Age Difference, Angst, Cheating, Eliza should really leave Alex, F/F, F/M, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-26 04:47:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16674775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbiannancywheeler/pseuds/Miss_maria_reynolds
Summary: Eliza had promised herself long ago that she would stop doing this, that she would stop coming here. Eliza had promised herself long ago that she would stop trying to see her. Eliza had frequently broken that promise since.





	Street Corner

Eliza had promised herself long ago that she would stop doing this, that she would stop coming here. Eliza had promised herself long ago that she would stop trying to see her. Eliza had frequently broken that promise since. The temptation buzzed through her body, growing slowly but constantly until she gave in.

She always knew where to find Maria. She stuck to a pretty basic set of locations and times of day, certain street corners and alleyways, usually at dusk. Being out in broad daylight was dangerous in her line of work, could end up with her being thrown in a police station’s jail cell. She never strayed enough from her set locations for Eliza to not be able to find her.

Eliza could see her standing on the street corner. She was alone, it was likely a slow day.

As Eliza got closer, Maria noticed her. She smiled knowingly. Eliza could swear that smile evoked the devil.

“You back for more?” Maria asked, the smile not straying from her red lips.

“You really should be wearing a jacket.” Eliza said, not responding to the girl’s question. The sky was at the stage between day and night, overcast now but darkening quickly. The cold air and beginnings of snow on the ground were not a good match for Maria’s outfit. A red tank top and too short black skirt. Eliza, bundled in her winter coat and scarf briefly wondered how the younger woman wasn’t freezing. “Or at least some pants. You’re going to freeze.”

“Gotta show off the goods.” Maria stated factually “Wearing a jacket ain’t gonna get me any business.”

Eliza supposed that might be true, but she pulled off her scarf and placed it around Maria anyways. She wouldn’t be having any more customers that day.

“Wearing a jacket will ensure that you don’t get sick.” Eliza knew this conversation wasn’t going anywhere, she knew that Maria wouldn’t listen, but she needed to fill the space, and she was genuinely worried about the girl.

“You said last time was the last time.” Maria stated, changing the subject and consequently the tone of their conversation.

Eliza said that every time. Maria knew that.

A silence fell upon them. Eliza didn’t know how to respond, and Maria seemed in no rush to carry on the conversation. Things were always quiet between them.

“Alexander isn’t home.” She said after the silence grew too long. She could hear herself start to think, start to fully realize how bad of an idea this was, but she couldn’t help but give in to the desire she felt to see this girl.

Alexander hadn’t been home in a while, this information wasn’t anything new to either of them.

More silence. They remained standing next to each other, Eliza once again scanning Maria’s outfit and wishing the girl would take better care of herself. After a few seconds, Maria turned to walk away.

“Where are you going?”

“You’re taking me home ain’t you?” Maria asked.

One of the first time they did this Maria had made a comment about how she was losing customers during the time she spent with Eliza, which may technically be true, but Eliza did still leave her money. Their interactions were not always sexual, not often going further than a kiss. In the last two years that they’d known each other for, they had hardly ever known each other intimately, Eliza couldn’t bring herself to touch Maria without feeling guilt. But she knew the way that Maria was living, the way she made her money, and she’d taken to giving her a payment for her time anyways.

Eliza hadn’t responded, and Maria was still walking away. She ran the few steps to catch up to the girl, and the two walked through the cold to Eliza’s house, the silence still looming over them. Eliza never knew what to say when this happened. She never knew what to feel when this happened. She was supposed to be Elizabeth Hamilton, Alexander’s lovely little dedicated wife, but there was something about Maria that threw off everything about her.

She didn’t know what it was about this girl, and girl was the right word, Maria was much too young for her. She always felt guilty after thinking that word. A mix of a maternal desire to take care of the girl and attraction swirled uncomfortably in her stomach.

They walked to the Hamilton house in what Eliza could only describe as a deafening silence.

* * *

 

Maria was standing by the fireplace, looking almost longingly at the pictures on the mantle. She had kept on the scarf and looked swallowed by it.

“I’d like a family some day,” She paused, as though she were thinking deeply about something. Eliza had noticed that Maria’s boldness disappeared in this house. The smirking propositions she was greeted with on the street a polar opposite of Maria’s current quiet demeanour. “A real one I mean.”

Eliza knew about James. She knew about his drinking habits and his less than kind treatment towards Maria. She also knew Maria was terrified to leave him. Eliza had offered many times to help Maria financially, offered to let her stay with her and Alexander. Maria had always denied, saying it would be too complicated. She was right, but that didn’t diminish Eliza’s offers. She wanted the girl safe, wanted to watch over her.

“I love Susan but, I wish-” Maria trailed off.

At those words, Eliza grew confused. She tried to remember who Susan was, she must have heard the name before, and almost asked before Maria spoke again, answering the question Eliza didn’t ask.

“My daughter.”

 _Oh._ Those were not words Eliza was expecting to hear.

She walked closer to Maria, slowly. There was a somber mood that had fallen over the two of them, Maria falling prey to the sadness now too.

“You never told me you had a daughter.” She wasn’t mad, nowhere near it, just shocked.

“She’s young.” Maria didn’t look away from the picture frames, and Eliza didn’t mention how that was unrelated to her previous statement.

Eliza supposed Maria staying here would be even more complicated than she had previously thought, but still it did not deter her. There would be room. The house was too large, and empty enough that Eliza grew lonely frequently.

“You could stay here.” an empty and meaningless offer. It wouldn’t be the first time Maria declined. Wouldn’t even be the fourth.

The girl just shook her head, still looking at the pictures on the mantle. Eliza joined her, stepping closer. Another thick silence fell heavily between them

There was a picture of Alexander, smiling proudly at Philip, at one of the boy’s soccer games when he was younger. A picture of the two of them as well as Eliza and little Angie when she was a baby. There were many more pictures, but the last one stood out. Eliza in a white dress, smiling from ear to ear at Alexander. Their wedding day.

She looked at the girl in the picture, some past form of herself. The smiling girl so full of hope and joy and love for her husband.

Where had that gone?

“Tell me about them, your children.”

The glassy reflection of her daughters and sons stared smiling at her. She smiled back.

“Philip is the oldest, he’s off at college now, top of his classes. It’s a gift when he comes back to visit, but I think he senses a disconnect between me and his father. He’s always been a smart kid.”

The only response she gained from Maria was a small smile, so she moved on to Angie.

“She’s named after my sister, and rightly. They share the same quick witted intelligence.”

Eliza continued, telling Maria about all of the children, but Maria asked another question.

“Tell me about Alexander.”

Eliza was silent, unsure what Maria could possibly want to hear. The happiness that had been building inside of her vanquished.

“Is he a good father?”

No thought was required to answer that. Alexander had always been a much better father than he was a husband. Maybe not always, but certainly in the last few years, since Philip began getting older she supposed. There had been happiness and love between them once.

“He loves the children. Work keeps him busy. He’s not around often but,” She paused. “he really does love them.”

That was true. You could see the pride in his eyes every time he look at Philip. The way he smiled whenever he spoke to Angie. Eliza could almost put aside her despair when she saw Alexander interact with the children. She could almost pretend things were how they used to be.

Maria caught the pause though. She turned to face Eliza.

“But he doesn’t love you, does he?”

There was yet another pause that stretched on for what felt like an eternity before Eliza finally spoke. She stared at the picture from their wedding day, the smiles on both their faces and the hope in their eyes. They had been perfect. Everyone had told them so.

“He used to.”

Maria looked up at her, an unreadable expression on her face.

“Do you love him?”

Maria had told Eliza she loved her many times. Eliza had never said it back.

“I,” She didn’t know what to say.

“Do you love me?” the girl asked.

No response. There never would be.

“I never loved James.” Maria spoke abruptly.

Maria reached for her hand and the two stood, neither of them saying anything.

Eliza knows she needs to make a decision; she knows she can’t have them both. She doesn’t even know if she wants them both. Doesn’t know if she wants him.

“I was young,” Maria started, Eliza didn’t interject to say that she’s still young, but she thought it. “He was older. He had money.”

Maria glanced at a photo of angie.

“Susan came along when I was seventeen. I love her but, her and James were the biggest mistake I’ve ever made.”

Eliza looked at her. She looked at her deep brown eyes, her dark red lips, the plunging neckline of her shirt, her bruised legs. Eliza couldn’t be sure if the bruises were from James or a client. Neither answer would surprise her. Eliza leaned in, overwhelmed with her painful mix of emotions. She pressed Maria’s chapped lips to her own. Maria retaliated immediately, opening her mouth and making a soft sound that Eliza wished she could hear on repeat. Eliza pushed her away after what was definitely too long, but felt like not long enough, disgusted with herself.

“I love you.” Maria said, tears welling in her eyes.

Alexander may have drowned himself in other women, but Eliza had thought she was better than him. Going after this young girl, who had been nothing but taken advantage of her whole life and would be so eager to fall into supposedly loving arms proved that she was just as despicable as her husband.

“You don’t. You can’t.”

“I do. I love you.”

Eliza had no idea how to react. She stood there silent for far too long, stuck like a dear in headlights. She’d heard that sentence so many times before and she’d never been able to come up with a response. Unclear entirely what she was doing, it felt as though her brain had short circuited, she walked to the side of the room and reached into her purse hanging on the wall. She pulled out money, she didn’t know how much, it didn’t matter, and shoved it in Maria’s hand.

“Get out of my house.”

“What?” The despair was evident in Maria’s voice as well as on her face.

“Get out of my house.” Eliza repeated.

Hot tears streaming down her face, Maria went to the door. Looking at Eliza her mouth opened, but she wasn’t able to make any sound come out. She walked out the door still crying, and let it close behind her.

Things would be back to normal now. Alexander would come home and tell his precious housewife all about his day at the office. She would let him complain and let him kiss her hello and let him fuck her and pretend that she felt something if he wanted to, god knows he had probably already gone and done it to some intern that day, and they would both fall asleep next to each other, thoroughly unsatisfied. And then in about a month’s time, she would walk out into the snow, down a familiar street, and find a familiar pair of red lips to press against her own again for as much time as she could steal.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, wow it's been almost a year since I last posted here. I had a bad mental health spiral at the beginning of the year, and then became super busy. I'm going to try to start posting more regularly this upcoming year. I've also gotten pretty into wicked this last year so maybe expect some Gelphie content?
> 
> I know the ages in this pic don't really line up. I was picturing Maria in her early 20s and Eliza in her 30s, which could work because they were born 11 years apart, but Philip would be around 10, not in college. I tried to keep it blurry and undefined but here I am pointing it out.
> 
> Also a few months ago I was actually lucky enough to see Hamilton in London! The whole cast was so so amazing but Sharon Rose was an amazing Eliza I fell in love!
> 
> Leave a comment If you want, I'd love to hear what you thought!


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